Stepping Strong Fund to back trauma care innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital

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The parents of a teenager whose life was saved by doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital after she was badly injured by bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon are funding a program at the Brigham that looks to technology to improve trauma care.

Gillian Reny was among the spectators seriously wounded at the Boylston Street finish line in April 2013. She received treatment at the Brigham, where doctors were able to avoid amputating her legs, even though herinjuries were severe.

The Trauma Innovation Series that kicks off Wednesday is open to anyone in the Brigham community. Participants are invited to identifyproblems in trauma care and next month they will be asked to provide solutions.

“Our goal was to transform trauma care through innovation and collaboration. The inherent nature of what iHub does fits so beautifully with what we are doing,” said Audrey Epstein Reny, Gillian’s mother. Gillian’s grandfather is Robert Epstein, a managing partner of the Boston Celtics.

The Innovation Hub at the Brigham supports entrepreneurial ventures that itsdoctors propose. Launched in 2013 and led by executive director Lesley Solomon, the group helps find partners andfunders and assists with issues such as intellectual property.

About every six months the iHub runs a hackathon-style program focusing ona different topic within medicine: surgery, pulmonary medicine, and radiology, among others. The intent is to provide a conduit to commercialize innovations.

Three finalists from this current round focusing on trauma carewill be picked in August and receive$10,000 each to further develop their projects. A winner will be announced in November and will take home $100,000.